2007–08 Premier League
The 2007–08 Premier League season (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the sixteenth since its establishment. The first matches of the season were played on 11 August 2007, and the season ended on 11 May 2008. Manchester United went into the 2007–08 season as the Premier League's defending champions, having won their ninth Premier League title and sixteenth league championship overall the previous season. This season was also the third consecutive season to see the "Big Four" continue their stranglehold on the top four spots and places in the UEFA Champions League. The first goal of the season was scored by Michael Chopra, who scored a 94th minute winner for Sunderland against Tottenham in the early kick-off. The first red card of the season was given to Reading's Dave Kitson after a challenge on Patrice Evra in their opening game against Manchester United. The first hat-trick was scored by Emmanuel Adebayor in the match between Arsenal and Derby County. On 29 September 2007, Portsmouth beat Reading 7–4 in the highest scoring match in Premier League history. On 15 December 2007, both Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn Rovers) and Marcus Bent (Wigan Athletic) scored hat-tricks during Wigan's 5–3 home win over Blackburn. This was the first occasion in Premier League history that two players on opposing teams had scored hat-tricks during the same match. On 29 March 2008, Derby County drew 2–2 with Fulham while Birmingham City, who were 17th in the table at the time, beat Manchester City 3–1, to make Derby County the first team in Premier League history to be relegated in March, ending the season with a League record low points tally of just 11. On 11 May 2008, the final day of the season, Manchester United beat Wigan Athletic 2–0 while Chelsea drew 1–1 with Bolton Wanderers, thus crowning Manchester United with their tenth Premier League title, and 17th championship overall, just one behind Liverpool's total of 18. Meanwhile, despite Birmingham beating Blackburn Rovers 4–1 and Reading beating Derby 4–0, both Birmingham and Reading were relegated due to Fulham's 1–0 win over Portsmouth. This meant that Fulham avoided relegation by a goal difference of −22, compared to Reading's −25. On the same day, Middlesbrough beat Manchester City 8–1 to claim the biggest win of the season. The season was notable for the return of the English league to the top of UEFA's official ranking list, overtaking La Liga for the period from 1 May 2008 to 30 April 2009. This followed the success of English clubs in the UEFA Champions League, with both champions Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea reaching the European Cup final. This was the first time that the English league had topped the UEFA rankings since the events at the Heysel Stadium in 1985. League table Results Season statistics Scoring *First goal of the season: Michael Chopra for Sunderland against Tottenham Hotspur (11 August 2007) *Last goal of the season: Matthew Taylor for Bolton Wanderers against Chelsea (11 May 2008) *Fastest goal in a match: 28 seconds – Geovanni for Manchester City against Wigan Athletic (1 December 2007) *Goal scored at the latest point in a match: 90+6 minutes – Andy Reid for Sunderland against West Ham United (29 March 2008) *Widest winning margin: 7 goals – Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008) *Most goals in a match: 11 – Portsmouth F.C. 7–4 Reading F.C. (29 September 2007) *First hat-trick of the season: Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal against Derby County (22 September 2007) *First own goal of the season: Martin Laursen for Liverpool against Aston Villa (11 August 2007) *Most goals by one player in a single match: 4''' **Dimitar Berbatov for Tottenham Hotspur against Reading (29 December 2007) **Frank Lampard for Chelsea against Derby County (12 March 2008) *Most hat-tricks scored by one player: '''2 **Benjani for Portsmouth ***Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007) ***Portsmouth 3–1 Derby County (19 January 2008) **Fernando Torres for Liverpool ***Liverpool 3–2 Middlesbrough (23 February 2008) ***Liverpool 4–0 West Ham United (5 March 2008) **Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal ***Arsenal 5–0 Derby County (22 September 2007) ***Derby County 2–6 Arsenal (28 April 2008) ****This is the first time in the Premier League that any player has scored a hat-trick against the same team twice in one season. *Most goals by one team in a match: 8''' **Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008) *Most goals in one half by one team: '''6 **Manchester United 6–0 Newcastle United (12 January 2008) **Middlesbrough 8–1 Manchester City (11 May 2008) *Most goals scored by losing team: 4 – Reading **Portsmouth 7–4 Reading (29 September 2007) **Tottenham Hotspur 6–4 Reading (29 December 2007) Cards *First yellow card of the season: Didier Zokora for Tottenham Hotspur against Sunderland (11 August 2007) *First red card of the season: Dave Kitson for Reading against Manchester United (12 August 2007) *Most yellow cards: Middlesbrough (85) *Fewest yellow cards: Everton (40) *Most red cards: Chelsea and Fulham (6) *Fewest red cards: Bolton (0) Average home attendance *Highest average home attendance: 75,691 (Manchester United) *Lowest average home attendance: 19,046 (Wigan Athletic) Clean sheets *Most clean sheets – Manchester United and Chelsea (21) *Fewest clean sheets – Derby County and Birmingham (3) Overall *Most wins – Manchester United (27) *Fewest wins – Derby County (1) *Most losses – Derby County (29) *Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea (3) *Most goals scored – Manchester United (80) *Fewest goals scored – Derby County (20) *Most goals conceded – Derby County (89) *Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (22) Home *Most wins – Manchester United (17) *Fewest wins – Derby County (1) *Most losses – Derby County (13) *Fewest losses – Arsenal and Chelsea (0) *Most goals scored – Manchester United (47) *Fewest goals scored – Derby County (12) *Most goals conceded – Derby County (43) *Fewest goals conceded – Manchester United (7) Away *Most wins – Chelsea (13) *Fewest wins – Derby County (0) *Most losses – Derby County (16) *Fewest losses – Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool (3) *Most goals scored – Arsenal and Aston Villa (37) *Fewest goals scored – Derby County (8) *Most goals conceded – Derby County (46) *Fewest goals conceded – Chelsea (13) Statistics Top scorers Top assists Fastest scorers Monthly awards Annual awards League Managers' Association Manager of the Year The LMA Manager of the Year award was won by Sir Alex Ferguson after leading Manchester United to back-to-back league title wins. The award was presented by Fabio Capello on 13 May 2008. PFA Players' Player of the Year The PFA Players' Player of the Year award for 2008 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo for the second year in a row. The shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows: *Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal) *Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal) *Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) *David James (Portsmouth) *Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) *Fernando Torres (Liverpool) PFA Young Player of the Year The PFA Young Player of the Year award was won by Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal. The shortlist for the award was as follows: *Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa) *Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal) *Micah Richards (Manchester City) *Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) *Fernando Torres (Liverpool) *Ashley Young (Aston Villa) PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper: David James (Portsmouth) Defence: Bacary Sagna, Gaël Clichy (both Arsenal), Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić (both Manchester United) Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa) Attack: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), Fernando Torres (Liverpool) PFA Fans' Player of the Year 2007 winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, was named the PFA Fans' Player of the Year again in 2008. Liverpool striker Fernando Torres finished second, with Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas finishing third. PFA Merit Award BBC broadcaster and former England and Blackpool full-back Jimmy Armfield received the PFA Merit Award for his services to the game. FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year award for 2008 was won by Cristiano Ronaldo for a second successive season. The Manchester United winger saw off the challenges of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and Portsmouth goalkeeper David James, who finished second and third respectively. Barclays Player of the Season Cristiano Ronaldo won the Barclays Player of the Season accolade for the second season in succession. Barclays Manager of the Season Sir Alex Ferguson, picked up the Barclays Manager of the Season for the eighth time. Barclays Golden Boot Award Cristiano Ronaldo was named the winner of the Barclays Golden Boot Award. The Manchester United winger's 31 goals from 34 league appearances helped see off stiff opposition for this award from Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and Fernando Torres of Liverpool. This was the first Premier League season that a player has scored more than 30 goals since Alan Shearer's 31-goal haul for Blackburn Rovers twelve years prior. Barclays Golden Glove Award Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina claimed the Premier League's golden gloves award for the third season in succession. Clean sheets in 18 out of the 38 games meant Reina kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the top flight during the 2007–08 campaign. Barclays Fair Play Award The Fair Play Award is a merit given to the team who has been the most sporting and best behaved team. Tottenham topped the Fair Play League, ahead of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. The least sporting side was Blackburn Rovers who finished in last place in the rankings.Statistics FA Premier League Barclays Premier League Merit Award Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger, collected the Barclays Premier League Merit Award for reaching 30 league goals this season. Personnel and kits In addition, Premier League officials were supplied with new kit made by Umbro, replacing American makers Official Sports, and are sponsored by Air Asia, replacing Emirates. The 2007–08 season saw a new font used for the names on the back of players' shirts. Stadia }} Managerial changes Records * Derby County finished with the worst record since the league was founded in 1992–93 and also the worst since the introduction of the three points for a win rule. Among the records set by the Rams were: ** A final record of one win, eight draws and 29 losses for a total of eleven points, worse than the Sunderland team from 2005–06, with the previously set lows of three wins, six draws and 29 losses totalling fifteen points. The single win, coming at home against Newcastle United 1–0 on 17 September was also a record for the fewest wins in a Premier League campaign ** Derby's 20 goals scored as a team (with Ronaldo, Adebayor and Torres each scoring more goals individually) was lower than the 2002–03 Black Cats' total with 21 goals scored. This marked the third time a team was outscored by one or more players. The team also failed to score in 21 of their 38 games ** Their −69 goal difference (20 goals scored, 89 conceded) was worse than Ipswich Town's 1994–95 goal difference of −57 (36 goals scored, 93 conceded). The 89 goals they conceded was the worst defensive performance by a team since Ipswich Town conceded 93 goals in 1994–95. It was also the worst record since the Premier League adopted the 20-team, 38-match format in 1995–96 ** The 29 defeats they suffered equalled the 2005–06 Sunderland team for the most losses suffered in one Premier League season * Chelsea's 85 points accumulated was a new record for the most points gained in a 38-game season without securing the title. The 83 points achieved by Arsenal was a new record for the most points gained in a 38-game season for finishing third * Manchester United's goal difference of +58 was the greatest ever attained in a Premier League season, beating the record set by Chelsea in 2004–05 * Cristiano Ronaldo beat his own record for most goals scored by a midfielder, raising the record to 31 goals. The previous record was 17 goals, from the previous season. Furthermore, his goal total equalled the highest number of goals ever scored in the Premier League during a 38-game season, equalling the record first set by Blackburn Rovers' Alan Shearer during the 1995–96 season * Marcus Bent and Roque Santa Cruz each scored a hat trick for their team during Wigan Athletic's 5–3 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 15 December 2007. This is the first time in Premier League history that players from opposing sides both scored hat-tricks in the same match * Emmanuel Adebayor scored two hat tricks home and away against Derby. This was the first time in the Premier League that a player had scored a hat trick against the same team twice in the league * Fernando Torres scored 24 goals for Liverpool, a new record for goals scored by a foreign player during his debut season References External links * 2007–08 Premier League Season RSSSF * Premier League official site * 2007-08 Premier League Kits Historical Kits 2007-08 Premier League, 2007–08 1 ar:الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز 2007/08 bg:Английска висша лига 2007/08 ca:FA Premier League 2007-08 cs:Anglická Premier League 2007/08 da:Premier League 2007-08 de:Premier League 2007/08 et:Premier League'i hooaeg 2007–2008 el:Αγγλικό πρωτάθλημα ποδοσφαίρου ανδρών 2007-08 es:Premier League 2007/08 fr:Championnat d'Angleterre de football 2007-2008 gl:Premier League 2007-2008 ko:프리미어리그 2007-08 hy:Պրեմիեր Լիգա 2007-08 (Անգլիա) hr:FA Premier liga 2007./08. id:Liga Utama Inggris 2007–08 is:Enska úrvalsdeildin 2007-08 it:Premier League 2007-2008 kk:Футболдан Англия чемпионаты 2007/2008 hu:2007–2008-as angol labdarúgó-bajnokság (első osztály) mt:Premier League 2007–08 mr:एफ.ए. प्रीमियर लीग २००७-०८ ms:Liga Perdana Inggeris 2007-08 nl:Engels voetbalkampioenschap 2007/08 ja:プレミアリーグ2007-2008 no:Premier League 2007/08 pl:Premier League (2007/2008) pt:Premier League 2007-08 ro:Premier League 2007-2008 ru:Чемпионат Англии по футболу 2007/2008 sk:FA Premier League 2007/08 sr:Премијер лига 2007/08. fi:Englannin Valioliigan kausi 2007–2008 sv:Premier League 2007/2008 th:พรีเมียร์ลีก ฤดูกาล 2007–08 uk:Чемпіонат Англії з футболу 2007—2008: Прем'єр-ліга vi:Giải bóng đá ngoại hạng Anh 2007-08 zh:2007–08賽季英格蘭超級聯賽